1. Field of the Invention
The present invention is directed to garments in the form of gowns which are worn by patients in medical facilities, and more particularly to such gowns which are light in weight, comfortable to wear, easy to put on and take off, and which provide for easy access to the torsos of the patients wearing the gowns, i.e., for examinations and for carrying out various treatments such as the connection to the patients of the necessary external medical equipment.
2. The Prior Art
Light-weight gowns for use by patients in hospitals, nursing homes, medical clinics, doctors' offices, etc., are well known. These gowns, which are often made of cotton, are comfortable to wear and easy to put on and take off.
For example, in U.S. Pat. No. 3,276,036 to Cater a gown for use by a patient in a hospital is disclosed which is light in weight, comfortable to wear, easy to put on and take off, and which provides a certain degree of access to the torso of the person wearing the gown. This gown, which is openable along one side, is made by connecting together, e.g. by stitching, three separately prepared pieces of material (e.g. cotton). These material pieces, called blanks, include a configured blank which forms the front and rear body portions of the ultimately produced gown, and two generally triangularly shaped blanks which form the opposite right and left sleeves of the gown. A multiplicity of fasteners, i.e., snap fasteners or ties, are attached to the interconnected blanks at various locations along their sides which provide the side opening for the gown so as to enable the gown to be closed once put on by the wearer.
Although the gown disclosed in Cater provides certain advantageous features, because it is constructed from three separately configured blanks and because it clearly requires the use of so many fasteners (at least nine), it is somewhat time consuming to construct and thus more expensive to produce than is desirable, and it is not entirely easy to put on and take off. In addition, it does not provide sufficiently quick access to the torso of the wearer in an emergency, i.e., if all the fasteners thereon are connected, as is optimally desirable.
Thus, it is an object of the present invention to provide a gown which can be worn by a patient in a medical facility and which will not only suitably cover the wearer, but which will be light in weight, comfortable to wear, easy to put on and take off, and which will be constructed to provide for exceptionally quick and easy access to the torso of the wearer by medical personnel.
It is a further object of the present invention to provide such a gown which is both simple and inexpensive to make.
It is a further object of the present invention to provide such a gown which is reversible.
It is a still further object of the present invention to provide a method for making such a gown.